Rain Delay Updates

We’re going to continue to give you updates from Ashe, so click ‘Read more’ and hit refresh on this page every so often.

Right now, even with the rain continuing to fall, the men in the white jumpsuits are out their with squeegees trying to do what they can to keep the court somewhat dry. The wind is blowing incredibly hard, from west to east. More than a few umbrellas are broken outside. Three matches need to be completed: The Nadal-Gonzalez quarterfinal match, which is currently in a second set tiebreaker (Nadal won the first set), and the two women’s semifinal matches.

We’ve just heard from the USTA that matches will not begin before 2:30 p.m. The entire press room erupted in laughter. “You don’t say!” shouted one reporter.

UPDATE 1:53 p.m.: The rain has stopped, and the zamboni-like machines are on the court now! This is step one to what is roughly a 30 minute process of drying the court. If the rain can hold off, we might be able to get Clijsters-Serena on the court by 2:30 p.m.

1:58 p.m.: The light drizzle picked up again and the zambonis have been removed from Ashe. But the zambonis were also at Louis Armstrong, which is a very strong sign that if the rain does eventually hold off, they’re going to play both women’s semis at once.

2:04 p.m.: The rain continues, but the gates have opened at Armstrong. Fans are streaming in now trying to secure good seats, even as they wait in the rain. Die-hards. We’re not sure which match would be placed there if the rain does stop.

2:08 p.m.: And now we do know! The USTA has announced that if the rain stops, we’re going to have three matches going on at once, folks. Serena-Clijsters will be playing at Ashe; Gonzalez-Nadal will play at Armstrong; Wozniacki-Wickmayer will be played on the Grandstand.

2:19 p.m.: Well, that 2:30 start-time isn’t looking so likely. It is oficially pouring out there. There are streams of water all over the Ashe court. And the wind is just absurd. The USTA just announced to the press room that matches won’t begin before 3 p.m. The press room, again, erupted into laugther.

2:36 p.m.: Still pouring. We’re going to blow off that 3 p.m. start time, without question.

2:47 p.m.: Potentially good news! One, the rain has let up here. Two, we were just on the phone with a source who works at 4 Times Square who went to their window to give us a weather update and that source said that it doesn’t appear to be raining in New Jersey! Yes, sheets of rain are falling in Manhattan, but there are, and we quote, “kind of bright skies across the Hudson.”

3:14 p.m.: Well, the rain is back again. Perhaps this refers to the “sheets of rain” that were in Manhattan 30 minutes ago. We hope those clear Jersey skies are coming here soon. The USTA has announced there will be no matches before 4 p.m. At this point, we’re assuming we’ve got about another hour before they cancel play for the day. CBS’ coverage was expected to end at 6 p.m. anyway and there’s no point in keeping this going forever. But worry not: We’re not getting tired.

3:55 p.m.: Rain, rain, go away, you’re no good! It continues here in Flushing, and it looks like those bright skies never hit us. We heard from a fellow reporter that the USTA will make some announcement or another by 5:45. At this point, all they care about is Nadal-Gonzalez match. If there’s any way to get that match on this evening, they will do it. If they can get those two in, they can finish the men’s final by Sunday.

4:02 p.m.: By the way, we spotted the man who calls the shots, tournament referee Brian Earley, eating lunch in the player’s dining room, so we’re not anticipating a sudden weather shift over the next few minutes!

4:44 p.m.: Well! It has stopped raining for the last 15 minutes. The bad news is we don’t see anyone drying the courts at Ashe or Armstrong. That’s making us a little less than optimistic. Maybe they know something in the forecast that we don’t know, but it’s not raining!

4:48 p.m.: There were these cute little rubber ducks that were placed on the court at Armstrong. They’ve been removed, but still no sign of the drying crew. “Get those zambonis out here!” shouted one fan. We agree!

5:11 p.m.: We’ve got news: The women’s matches today have officially been canceled. The men’s quarterfinal match is still on the schedule, and they’re hoping they can still complete it. We might be here for a while.